West
Prairie Middle School, home of the Cyclones, is located in Colchester and
serves 175 students in grades five through eight from the communities of Good
Hope, Colchester, Tennessee, Blandinsville, and Sciota. The Middle School staff
has a total of 27 building employees. This includes a school counselor, school
psychologist, and part-time social worker.
Staff is committed to fulfilling the mission to provide a safe,
challenging, and nurturing environment where individual connections are made. Using technology routinely with instruction,
allows students to attain 21st-century skills through collaborating,
creating, and exploring. Skills needed to prepare for a successful future.
West
Prairie Middle School embraces the middle school concept by providing a daily
advisory period, daily team-planning period, and electives. The purpose of advisory is to promote
social-emotional learning and create a more personalized learning environment
where all students are well known by at least one adult. Teams of teachers meet daily to plan
interdisciplinary units and activities and ensure students’ individual needs
are being met. In addition to core
courses, all students have the opportunity to participate in art, PE, music
appreciation, introduction to agriculture, and STEM (science, technology,
engineering, mathematics).
During
the 2016-2017 school year, WPMS transitioned from the traditional technology
course to a STEM course. Students engage
in a hands-on, project-based curriculum that promotes critical thinking and
problem solving. Throughout the course,
students behave as technical investigators by using tools and completing tasks
that promote scientific inquiry.
Students pose “What if…?” questions, make predictions, test behaviors of
models, and record and present findings.
In
2013, West Prairie Middle School adopted a 1:1 iPad program with iPads. The integration of technology for all
students allows our environment to be truly student centered. The technology is used to enhance our
curriculum and allows our students to explore, create, and collaborate with one
another and the outside world.
West
Prairie Middle School has strong systems in place to provide support to
students, both academically and behaviorally.
Daily schedules include a 25-minute RTI period to provide reading and
math interventions to students needing additional opportunities to strengthen
skills. A strong PBIS program provides
many celebrations and incentives to students who demonstrate positive behavior.